The present invention relates to a body cover device for car adapted to cover a car body with a body cover and, more particularly, to a body cover device for covering the car body with the body cover, whereby the body cover can be developed over the car body and stored in the body cover device with a one-touch operation.
Various types of body cover devices for covering a car body with a body cover are known.
One type of the body cover device is configured such that a main device body with a body cover stored therein during non-use is integrally mounted on supporting member that firmly. supports the main device body. This type of the body cover device, however, may suffer from the difficulty that the main device body is less firmly secured to a car body and it is difficult to pull the body cover from the main device body. Such body cover device is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,212, U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,700 to Fasiska, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,643 to Cheng et al.
Another known arrangement of a body cover device for car is to simply mount or demount a body cover for car, as disclosed to the public by Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 8-104,142 (104,142/1996).
This body cover device arrangement includes a porch mounted on the reverse of a trunk lid for storing the body cover connected at its end to the porch. The car body is covered simply by pulling the body cover at its end out of a gap between the base edge of the trunk lid and the edge of a trunk room opening, and is uncovered simply by pulling the body cover therein at the porch side. The body cover is stored in the porch provided on the reverse of the trunk lid.
Other known arrangements of body cover devices for car are such that the body cover is pulled out in a similar way but uncovered and stored in automatic processes.
For example, Japanese Utility Model Application No. 99,773/1989 (Laid-open No. 38,218/1991) discloses a body cover device that includes a winder for rotating a roller in the direction of winding-up, on which a body cover is wound, mounted on the reverse of a trunk lid, whereby the body cover can be normally stored in a trunk and a car body is covered by pulling the body cover at its end out of a gap formed between the base edge of the trunk lid and the edge of a trunk room opening, followed by spreading over the roof of the car body, similarly to the prior art as described above. The body cover is uncovered by operating the winder for automatically winding the body cover to be stored in the trunk on the roller.
The above-described prior arts involve the following outstanding problems, because either of the porch and the winder is mounted on the reverse of the trunk lid.
In order to mount the porch or the winder on the trunk lid, it has to be fixed to the trunk lid. At this end, the trunk lid has to be modified so as to adapt the porch or the winder.
The body cover for car may become considerably heavy; although a material for the body cover itself is thin, because it has to be wide enough to cover the car body. Therefore, the prior art arrangements for the body cover having the structures as described above may impose a load directly on the trunk lid even when the body cover is stored in the porch or when it is wound on the roller.
The trunk lid is not so much rigid from the point of view of the structure of the car body and the body cover is considerably heavy. Therefore, while the car is running with the body cover accommodated in the trunk, a great load may be applied to the trunk lid or to the mounting means for the porch or the winder, mounted on the reverse thereof. As a result, troubles such as a deformation of the trunk lid or falling of the mounting means may be caused to occur.
Therefore, it has been difficult to put the above-described prior art technology on storing the body cover device for car into practical use.
A body cover device for car according to the invention comprises a main device body for delivering a body cover to cover a car body and storing the body cover during non-use and a stand part for supporting the main device body in the trunk room, disposed separately from the main device body in the trunk room and firmly pressed against two interior walls of the trunk room. The main device body is connected to the stand part through supporting means so as to be movable between a first position at which the body cover is in use and a second position at which the body cover is in non-use and stored in said main device body. Further, the stand part supports the main device body so as to enable delivery of the body cover from the main device body and storage of the body cover in the main device body. Moreover, the stand part for supporting the main device body in the trunk room is disposed vertically in the trunk room and firmly pressed against two interior walls of the trunk room, thereby firmly securing the main device body with the body cover stored therein during non-use. In a preferred mode, the stand part is disposed vertically between an inner wall portion of a ceiling wall and an inner wall portion of a bottom wall of the trunk room.
For the body cover device according to the invention, the stand part comprises an elastically supporting member that elastically extends to firmly press said stand part against one of the two interior walls of the trunk room and support said stand part in the trunk room.
Further, the elastically supporting member elastically extends until an end of the elastically supporting member contacts with one of the interior walls of the trunk room and firmly presses the stand part against the one of the two interior walls thereof to support the stand part in the trunk room. In a specific mode, the elastically supporting member extends upwardly until a top of the elastically supporting member contacts with a rear face of the upper interior wall of the trunk room to firmly press the stand part against the two interior walls of the trunk room.
In other words, the elastically supporting member is installed extensibly on the stand part so that the cover device can be stored in the state of being resiliently supported between the inner walls of the trunk room. Further, the elastically supporting member can be resiliently supported in the vertical in the trunk room so that the cover device can be formed to be resiliently supported at the most structurally rigid position in the trunk room.
The above arrangement of the body cover device according to the invention can store the body cover in the trunk room in an easy arrangement without modifying the structure of the trunk room and damaging the body cover and the trunk room.
For the body cover device according to the invention, the main device body is oscillatably installed on the stand part disposed in the vertical so as to be supported at its spring-up position during use and suspended during non-use. This arrangement for the main device body can provide easy handling during covering the car body and stable storage of the relatively heavier body cover in the trunk room during non-use. Further, the body cover stored in a downward suspended state permits the least possible load on the stand part during running even on a bad road and ensures improved durability.
As the main device body is provided with a delivery-and-windup port through which to deliver the body cover and wind it up so as to face a gap formed between the base edge of the trunk lid and the edge of the trunk room opening, delivery of the body cover is ensured at its end from the gap to the side of the rear glass. Therefore, a user can pull the body cover out easily and more conveniently.
The main device body comprises a drum on which the body cover is wound and driving means for rotating the drum to the direction of delivery of the body cover, so that the body cover can be semi-automatically delivered from the main device body and cover the car body of the car very easily.
Moreover, the driving means for rotating the drum in the direction of delivery of the body cover includes a delivery shaft mounted with a spring and connected to the drum with the body cover wound thereon via a one-way clutch. Further, the driving means is provided with energy accumulating means for resiliently acting the spring with the rotation of the delivery shaft in the opposite direction of delivery of the body cover. Therefore, the delivery shaft can be rotated with the resilience of the spring following the operation of the energy accumulating means to allow easy delivery of the body cover by simple mechanical operation.
Furthermore, the drum with the body cover wound thereon may be provided with a winder for winding the delivered body cover to allow automatic winding-up and storage of the body cover in the trunk room.
The body cover according to the invention includes a pair of core materials extending in parallel to the direction of delivery and winding-up. This can prevent the deformation of the body cover during delivery and winding-up and permits a smooth delivery and winding-up of the body cover.
The main device body may be detachably mounted on the stand part so that the main device body can be removed and stored during non-use and easily mounted during use. Further, this configuration of the main device body can provide wider space in the trunk room and easier handling performance.
Furthermore, the body cover device according to the invention includes the stand part comprising a pair of columns and each column is provided with an outside cylinder disposed upright on the bottom wall of the trunk room, a bottomed inside cylinder slidably arranged in the outside cylinder with the main device body mounted thereon oscillatably, a bar slidably arranged in the inside cylinder and provided with a contact member at the end so as to firmly press the interior wall of the trunk room, and a spring interposed between the bottom of the bar and the bottom of the inside cylinder. This configuration of the stand part can be fixed in the trunk room in a simple manner and ensure firm attachment between the two interior walls of the trunk room, eventually firmly securing the main device body to the stand part.
Moreover, the stand part may be provided with an engagement means between the bar and the inside cylinder so as to lock the bar to the inside cylinder at the position at the bar is pushed down. Therefore, this arrangement for the body cover device can easily fix the stand part into the trunk room.
Further, the stand part may be disposed so as to be transferable between two locations in the trunk room. At this end, the stand part comprises a supporting stand part and a fixing stand part associated with the supporting stand part. The main device body is supported on the supporting stand part so as to be transferable between the two location when the depth of the trunk room is very deep so that the main device body is too far to allow the body cover to be delivered from the delivery-and-windup port to the gap through which the body cover to be delivered. This structure of the stand part allows effective use of a space of the trunk room.
Moreover, the stand part comprises a pair of columns for supporting the main device body and each is provided with the elastically supporting member.
The column is provided with an outside cylinder disposed upright on a leg seat; a bottomed inside cylinder slidably mounted in the outside cylinder and mounted with the main device body so as to movable upwardly and downwardly; a bar slidably mounted in the inside cylinder and provided with a contact member at the end so as to firmly contact with a one interior wall of the trunk room; and a spring interposed between the bottom of the bar and the bottom of the inside cylinder.
For the body cover device according to the invention, it is to be noted that the elastically supporting means comprises the bar slidably mounted in the inside cylinder; the spring interposed between the bottom of the bar and the bottom of the inside cylinder; a threaded bar threadedly secured to the bar for adjusting a projection length of the contact member; and the contact member mounted on the bar so as to firmly contact with one of the interior walls of the trunk room.
The body cover device according to the invention is further configured in such a manner that the main device body is connected to the stand part through supporting means. The supporting means may comprise a body arm connected resiliently to the main device body and a supporting arm connected to the stand part and supported on said stand part.
The body arm and the supporting arm through which to connect the main device body to the stand part may be arranged so as to resiliently move the main device body so as to take a raised position closer to the gap through which to pull the body cover outside when the body cover device is in use and to take an upward directed position a little closer to the stand part and generally horizontally yet a little diagonally downward from the raised position when it is in non-use.
Alternatively, the body arm of the supporting means may comprise an upper body arm and a lower body arm; the supporting arm comprises an upper supporting arm and a lower supporting arm, mounted on the stand part at an interval; the upper body arm is connected to the main device body at a top end thereof and to a top of the lower body arm at a base end thereof and supported On the upper supporting arm; the lower body is connected to the lower supporting arm at a base end thereof; a link arm is connected at one end thereof to the upper supporting arm and at the other end thereof to the upper body arm to support the upper body arm; a spring means is mounted at a one end thereof on the stand part and mounted at the other end thereof on a connection between the upper body arm and the lower body arm; the spring means is biased to raise the body arm upward as the main device body is pulled diagonally upward and farther from the stand part to the first position from the second position by the body cover in use and the spring is resiliently back diagonally downward and closer to the stand part to the second position from the first position when the body cover in non-use is stored in the main device body; and the main device body in the first position takes a posture in which the main device body is held upward on top of the upper body arm in a position farther from the stand part and said main device body takes a posture in which the main device body is held upward on top thereof in a position closer to the stand part.